The first issue of a new Anishinaabe language magazine crushes major language obstacles as it leans into skateboarding, snowboarding and surfing to revitalize Indigenous language.
Asab (pronounced AH-sub) is believed to be the first magazine in North America published exclusively in a single Indigenous language. But with no known Anishinaabe words for terms like "kickflip", "boned out" or "goofy stance," the editorial team turned to first speakers to create hundreds of never-before-spoken Ojibwe words.
The Anishinaabe people are centered around the Great Lakes homeland of the Ojibwe people in Canada and the U.S.
"We have rich vocabularies across dialects for traditional activities like maple sugaring, wild ricing or sewing; things connected to ceremony or harvest," says Bimose Nick Reo, associate professor of Indigenous Studies at Simon Fraser University and lead creator of Asab. "But we don't have a word for quarter pipe,' or the rail people are grinding, or the type of trick they're doing."
Without these terms, speakers often turn to English to fill gaps a reality Reo says limits the language's ability to fully reflect contemporary life.
"People trying to talk about these activities in Anishinaabe often have to bring in colonial vocabulary," he says. "We need to get to a point where we don't have to do that for any activity."
Connected to his larger work in Indigenous language revitalization and creating spaces for international Indigenous knowledge exchange, Reo says there is a tangible sense of urgency for projects like Asab. Only first speakers those who grew up speaking Anishinaabe as their primary language hold the knowledge needed to confidently build new vocabulary and ensure new words will be understandable.
"We couldn't afford to wait a year or two to get this going, given the limited and decreasing number of first speakers we need to do this work," Reo says, adding he put out the call for contributors in early 2026, not long after he first envisioned a mono-lingual Indigenous language magazine.
The creative team behind Asab came together for several days at a cultural retreat hosted by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Cloquet, Minnesota. Photo courtesy of Asab Magazine
By springtime, he had gathered a small group of Anishinaabe snowboarders, surfers, and skateboarders, experienced language learners, and first speaker Maajigoneyaash Gordon Jordain who grew up speaking Ojibwe as his first and primary language at a cultural retreat hosted by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Cloquet, Minnesota.
Over two and a half days, they collaborated to write, design, and lay out the first issue. Maajigoneyaash helped create a list of approximately 300 words, mostly brand-new vocabulary specific to skateboarding, snowboarding, and surfing.
The first issue of the limited-run, hardcopy magazine was published in June 2026 and features photo essays, comics, poetry, iMessage-style conversations, and short written articles from 19 Anishinaabe contributors from both sides of the 49th parallel.
Each annual issue will explore activities or topics not typically associated with Anishinaabe culture. As for its name? The word asab' refers to a fishing or dip net in Ojibwe, an image that reflects the magazine's purpose, Reo says.
"Fishing nets capture many different things. Since each issue will focus on a new topic, it felt thematically appropriate. We're going to gather a lot of different ideas in our net, in our Asab."
About Asab
The inaugural issue of Asab was produced with support from the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the SFU's Coastal Relationalities and Regeneration (CORR) Learning Constellation & Community-Based Research Initiative, New Leonard Media and Heart Berry. Language resources connected to the project are hosted by the Midwest Indigenous Immersion Network. Hard copies of Asab are available for purchase at heartberry.com
